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Giddyup!

This will have to suffice as my submission this week. I tried a few other things, but nothing came out well. I'm too distracted by my stupid job. Well, it's not stupid, really, but it sure can be a pain in the you-know-where. Two more weeks and I'm off for the summer

This will have to suffice as my submission this week. I tried a few other things, but nothing came out well. I'm too distracted by my stupid job. Well, it's not stupid, really, but it sure can be a pain in the you-know-where. Two more weeks and I'm off for the summer

I think it's great. Shows how panning with the use of a slow shutter speed can reveal motion in a still photo. I would have preferred a less distracting background. The picnic table scene is not helpful.

If I had time, that's exactly the photo I was going to take using an R51/3. Alas, I do not have access to a Velocette.

I just wish the rider was wearing gloves and a decent helmet.

Have a great summer! If you are riding to Alaska, watch out for the clouds of mosquitoes and motorcyclists.

Feedback I

Well, this is ridiculously late, but that's not going to stop me from doing it. My head and heart have been in a different place lately, and the later this got, the more distant it seemed. I do apologize to those of you who took the time to take a picture and participate in our assignment. Late though it is, I hope you get something from my comments.

130253 was up first this time around. As you have surmised from previous assignments, I'm a sucker for these sort of abstract, painterly images. This one is particularly effective, in that it breaks all the rules. I like, too, that the motion seems to be occurring in two opposing directions. It's a wonderful, colorful blur.

Lamble's is a nice submission. I particularly like the vertical composition. It would be tempting—if only for practical reasons—to orient this horizontally, but his decision works better. The fellow in the foreground and the audience are static, but the bikes, of course, are moving. The blur of motion is very slight, making the image appear almost out of focus. I might like to have seen a bit more blur. The result may have been more abstract, but perhaps more dramatic, too. Nonetheless, it's a nice shot.

When I first saw grossjohann's first submission, I was quite taken with the interpretation of the theme. The lighting is quite nice and I love how the three men appear to be stacked, each facing in a different direction. For a still image of three men, it's rather dynamic. It's also a bit frenetic, with lots of planes and surfaces leaving the image, lots of competing lines.

GJ's second submission, uncropped, is a bit pedestrian at first glance; however, it also exhibits a certain nobility. This lone aircraft, which we know is enormous, is not only dwarfed by this cloud but viewed from above—God's perspective, perhaps. It's a neat image in that regard, and I applaud his decision about where to place the plane in the image. Of any quadrant, this one works the best.

Voni came in this time with two canine images. This one is almost purely abstract, but retains enough of the original form to be at least recognizable. It's an interesting study, but doesn't tell much of a story. It does reveal motion, and that's our theme.

In contrast, I love Voni's second submission. It's hard to resist a dog's exuberance. I also love the composition: placing the pup in the upper half of the picture, the photographer draws the viewer's eyes toward the subject. Often, in images such as this, the shadow is cut off, but here we have both the subject and its shadow. In many respects, I could argue that the shadow is the subject. It's like two simultaneous views of the same image—akin to BeerTeam's bridge photo with a view of the rearview mirror. I hope that's not too obscure a reference. Anyway, this is a neat shot that I like very much, Voni.

If this picture doesn't make your heart melt, there's something wrong with you. Theme? Motion. Or Springtime. Or childhood. Or freedom. Or the hunt. Or. . . . This is a universal image in many respects. It's a masterful composition. Many emerging photographers (Franze is not one; he's quite experienced) would have placed the girl dead center. Instead, he balances her against the tree that, while it dominates the image, is clearly not the subject. One could argue that the subject—unseen—is a butterfly. I love how she is just ready to dart out of the frame, as children do, darting here and there, and then right out of childhood. This is, at least for me, a very powerful image.

130253 (what kind of name is that, anyway?) brings us two more images, and in many respects, they are my favorites this time. They are motorcycle related and reveal not just motion, but one which we all know and love. The first image causes a kind of vertigo as the viewer struggles to see which end is up. The second is far more straightforward and easy to interpret. I've always admired images like this of rigid symmetry. They're hard to pull out of a camera. The first image is enriched by the inclusion of both the shadow and the yellow line. These are really neat shots which reveal motion in a very appealing way.

Voni brings us another good motion photo. This is another photo of childhood exuberance. I like this photo for the technique it reveals: shooting motion with a flash. Most cameras shoot a flash picture at about 1/60 sec; however, the flash itself fires at about 1/10,000 sec. The flash exposure, though, only provides part of the exposure. The result is some motion and some frozen image. DSLRs allow you to manipulate this in a number of ways. You can shoot at higher shutter speeds (typically 1/250 sec.) and some even have "high-speed flashes" allowing you to shoot flash at even higher speeds. Some will shoot a burst of flashes allowing you to get 4, 7, even 13 images on a single frame. You can even choose to have the flash fire either at the beginning or the end of the exposure (referred to as "rear-curtain sync"). 100 bonus points for the tyke tunneling in his nose. 500 bonus points if he ate it. (No offense intended, that's a Caddyshack reference).

Hallisbruce weighed in with a cool nature shot. I'm sure it was tough to resist the temptation to crop this. Even out of the camera, it's a great capture. You can see some motion in the birds wing (is a hawk?) but the rest is frozen nicely. The foreground could be distracting, but given that it appears to be a nest, it works nicely. It's also a really good exposure. I love the play of light in the tail feathers.

As is so often the case, RandallIsland returns with an interesting study. 50 bonus points for the good advice on the well-worn helmet. There appears to be an attempt at motion in the background. Were the camera and helmet moving simultaneously? They appear to be mounted on a board? If I'm right in my assumptions, it may have been more effective with a slower shutter speed, and perhaps more distance to the background. . . . Maybe outdoors at night. It's a concept worth pursuing. I would encourage you to keep working on it.

OldPaul brings us another nice image. This doesn't say "motion" to me. I understand from the title that there's a lot of hub-bub in the pits, but I'm not seeing it. This photo says, "standing around," even though that may not at all have been what was going on. It's a nice composition, beautiful colors, and great contrast and saturation. Imagine this photo taken on a tripod: Everyone in the picture a ghostly image, but the cars clear and sharp. That may have communicated a much greater sense of motion in exactly the same scene.

Wow, this is hard work. I'm all tuckered out. I'll return with more later. I promise it won't take several weeks.